Issue link: https://mbozikis.ufcontent.com/i/1422521
26 636, 642 (2d Cir. 1988); see also Moran v. LTV Steel Co. (In re LTV Steel Co.), 560 F.3d 449, 452 (6th Cir. 2009). Decisions by bankruptcy courts generally are appealed first to the district court for the district in which the bankruptcy court is located, then to the applicable circuit court and finally to the U.S. Supreme Court. 28 U.S.C. § 158. It is possible, in certain circumstances, however, to appeal an adverse decision directly from a bankruptcy court to a circuit court. 28 U.S.C. § 158(d)(2). 8 Furthermore, unique to the bankruptcy system is the introduction of bankruptcy appellate panels. These panels, which are typically created at the determination of each individual circuit, are comprised of bankruptcy judges and replace the district court in the appellate chain unless one of the parties opts to have the appeal heard by the district court instead. 9 28 U.S.C. § 158(b)–(c). The ability to appeal a particular decision depends, in part, on whether such decision is a "final" decision or an "interlocutory" decision. Final decisions may be appealed as of right, whereas interlocutory decisions may only be appealed with the consent of the district court or bankruptcy appellate panel. In short, a final decision is one that finally concludes the particular matter it addresses; an interlocutory decision is one that only determines an intervening matter and for which further steps are required before the issue can be decided on the merits. See Yerushalmi v. Pergament, (In re Yerushalmi), 2010 Bankr. LEXIS 454, at *6 (Bankr. E.D.N.Y. Feb. 12, 2010) (citing Burke v. Croson, 85 N.Y. 2d 10, 15 (N.Y. 1995)). Courts also recognize the doctrine of "equitable mootness" under which appellate courts refrain from hearing bankruptcy appeals relating to plan confirmation when it would be "inequitable" to do so. The goal of equitable mootness is to strike 8 These circumstances include questions of law for which there is not a controlling decision of the relevant circuit court or the U.S. Supreme Court or when an immediate appeal may materially advance the progress of the case or proceeding. 9 The First, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Circuits have bankruptcy appellate panels; the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, and Eleventh do not.